Connor: A Cowboy Stepbrother Romance Novel Read Free Page B

he looked her up and down, shaking his head in awe. “Your pictures didn’t do you justice.”
    I smiled as my mom and Richard gazed into each other’s eyes for the first time. He was quite handsome and I thought that they made pretty cute couple.
    “Oh, Richard,” my mom said. “You’re too sweet.”
    She smiled as she gazed at him, then she glanced over toward me.
    “This is my daughter, Emily,” she said.
    Richard broke his gaze from my mom and then turned toward me, shaking my hand.
    “Ah, Emily,” he said. “I’ve heard so much about you. I’m so happy that you were able to make it out here with your mom. I was kind of worried about her coming all this way by herself, so I was glad to hear that you were willing to take the trip with her!”
    “Well, I was actually kind of excited to come out,” I said. “I needed to get away from the city for a while.”
    I paused for a second as I looked toward the barn.
    “Mom didn’t mention that you had horses, though!” I continued. “I haven’t ridden in years, but I’d love to try it again some time.”
    Richard stepped beside me, gazing toward the barn.
    “Yes, that’s Willy and Nelson,” he said. “They’re great for riding. You won’t find calmer horses anywhere. I’ll have Connor take you on a ride some time while you’re here. He should be back later tonight from his rodeo tour.”
    I raised an eyebrow and I looked toward Richard.
    “Connor?” I asked.
    Richard nodded and then turned to face my mom.
    “Mary, you didn’t tell Emily about my son, Connor?” he asked.
    My mom responded, “Oh, I had spent so much time telling her about you that I forgot to mention him.”
    Richard smiled and then turned back to face me.
    “Well, Connor is my only child. He’s twenty-nine, so a little bit older than you. He’s a professional rodeo man now. He spent some time working in Boston after high school, but then joined the rodeo when he found out that working in an office just wasn’t for him.”
    A rodeo man? I thought.
    Immediately, naughty thoughts flashed into my mind. I pictured a muscular and tan man, wearing nothing but tight jeans and a cowboy hat. The image caused a tingling sensation to shoot through my body and a smirk to cross my face.
    “He’s in the rodeo?” I asked. “Like, the real one?”
    Richard laughed as he nodded his head.
    “Yes, the national one,” he said. “He’s a professional bull rider currently. He has tried just about everything in the rodeo, but he said that there’s something about those eight seconds on a bull that are more exciting than anything else you can do in the rodeo. So that’s what he’s decided to focus on. He’s sponsored now, so it’s how he makes his living. And I have to say, I’m a little bit envious of him.”
    Richard’s smile was wide and it was obvious that he was proud of his son for his accomplishments.
    “Anyway, his rodeo tour is over for the year, so he’ll be coming back home for a while,” he said. “It’s perfect timing, really. I’m glad that you and your mom will get to meet him.”
    I nodded my head and smiled.
    “Yeah, that is pretty cool,” I said. “He sounds like an interesting guy.”
    “He’s quite the character, that’s for sure,” Richard said. “Now, come on inside. I’ll show you ladies around.”
    Richard grabbed my mom’s hand and led her inside. I followed behind them, as we made our way into his beautiful home. Everything inside was made of wood and looked to be hand made, including the handrails that led upstairs.
    “Did you make everything in here?” I asked.
    Richard looked back and smiled. “Well, I can’t take all of the credit. Connor did a lot of this work, too. But between the two of us, we created everything in this house. Including the house itself.”
    I shook my head in awe, admiring the intricacy of the carved, wooden artwork that surrounded me. Carved bears and eagles, all chiseled to perfection, covering shelves and